An imposter Facebook page used the names and faces of Dr. Willie Ong and his wife, Dr. Liza Ramoso-Ong, in promoting and erroneously claiming that a product called Zudaifu Fungal Cream treats allergies and itchiness of the skin.
On Aug. 13, the counterfeit FB page published two similar videos advertising the herbal cream with a caption that read: “Kung may kati2x di mo na kailangan pang kamutin para mawala. Di mo na kailangan pang epa check para mawala. Di mo na kailangan pang ma stress,Dahil ang ang tanging paraan lang ay pahiran ng ZUDAIFU CREAM para mawala, Bilis Tanggal agad ang kati.”
(If you have itchiness, you no longer need to scratch it to make it disappear. You don’t need to get it checked to make it go away. You don’t need to stress over it because the only way to make it disappear is to use Zudaifu cream. The itchiness will quickly fade away.)
Implying that the Ongs endorsed the product, the videos, one of which was 45 seconds long and the other 48 seconds, showed a spliced clip of the couple talking about stress as among the factors worsening eczema.
Zudaifu cream is not in the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Verification Portal, which shows all food and drug products issued with a certificate of product registration.
Ramoso-Ong has previously told VERA Files Fact Check that they do not endorse any health product marketed online. (Read Doc Willie Ong DID NOT endorse anti-arthritis supplement)
American and British health authorities have also issued warnings about the product.
The United States’ National Library of Medicine published a report last March stating that the cream has not been found to be “safe and effective” and has yet to be approved by its FDA.
The United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in 2018 warned against using Zudaifu cream since it contains a “potentially harmful steroid.”
The short clip of the Ongs were from a 2018 video published on their official YouTube channel, where they gave advice on addressing eczema. Nowhere in the video did they recommend the use of Zudaifu cream.
FB page Payo ni Dok Willie published the videos that collectively garnered more than 1,300 reactions, 1,500 comments, 300 shares and 212,000 views. The page, created on Sept. 13, 2021, was originally named “Kinoki Original Ph” before it used Ong’s name starting last July 22.
The imposter uses a photo of the Ong couple as its profile picture and regularly shares posts from the official FB page of the couple to make it appear legitimate.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
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